Thomas leads Sun

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Alyssa Thomas had 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead a balanced Connecticut offense and the Sun opened the WNBA semifinals with an 84-75 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday night.

Jasmine Thomas scored 19 points, Jonquel Jones had 16 and Courtney Williams had 15 for the Sun, who won their first playoff game since 2012.

Candace Parker had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Nneka Ogwumike added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Sparks, who knocked off defending champion Seattle in the second round.

Connecticut trailed by three points at halftime, but scored the first nine points of the third quarter. A layup by Courtney Williams just before that quarter's buzzer sent the Sun into the final 10 minutes up 59-58.

Connecticut never trailed in the fourth, outscoring the Sparks 25-17 over the final 10 minutes.

Draft Lottery: The New York Liberty will have the No. 1 pick in next year's WNBA draft for the first time in franchise history. One of the original WNBA teams, the Liberty won the draft lottery Tuesday night. New York had the best odds of getting the No. 1 pick with a 44.2 percent chance. New York had the No. 2 pick last year and took Asia Durr. It's been rare for the Liberty to pick high in the draft with last year being the first time they had a top-three pick. Dallas will pick second, Indiana third and Atlanta fourth. The Fever had the second best odds of getting the No.1 pick with a 27.6 percent chance. Dallas had a 17.8 percent chance of picking first and Atlanta 10.4 percent. Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu and Baylor forward Lauren Cox are among the leading prospects to be selected No. 1. Liberty coach Katie Smith said at the end of the Liberty's season that they could use a point guard or another post player so both of those college stars would definitely help.